Harpist Constance Luzzati released her new album Jupiter on Sept. 20 via the French label Paraty. The album is available on major streaming platforms and as a CD. According to a press release, Luzzati’s recording showcases Baroque miniatures, including the music of French harpsichordist composers François Couperin, Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer, and Jacques Duphly. Several tracks (including the title track by Antoine Forqueray) also feature Caroline Delume on the theorbo, an instrument similar to the lute.
“I’d say there are two types of piece for which the harp has a particular genius, both of which go in opposite directions,” Luzzati says. “In pieces written in the ‘lute’ style, with resonances that are written to tangle together, the harpsichordist has to keep his fingers down on purpose for the connections to take place. The harpist, on the other hand, has ‘nothing special to do,’ since by nature the resonances will blend. The roundness of sound and fading, so difficult to find on the harpsichord, come naturally to the harp.”
“At the other end of the spectrum, there are pieces that ‘conjure up extraordinary characters’ by means of virtuosity and theatricality,” Luzzati says. “[These pieces] are designed to resist the harpsichordist by virtue of their difficulty… This resistance is multiplied tenfold on the harp, and the unusual nature of the writing is even more perceptible. They make the harp sound in a way that is not at all usual in early music, reminiscent in a way of more contemporary music.”
Luzzati writes in her program notes that these transcriptions for harp are a further step in a process that was widely accepted in the 18th century, where adaptation of single works for many instruments was commonplace. She says she chose to transcribe works that would leave an impression with the listener. “I selected this repertoire by choosing the most expressive pieces (and that was difficult, because there are so many of them), the pieces I fell in love with, deliberately going for those that ‘overflow’ a little or a lot: with harmonic tension, chromaticism, sweetness, virtuosity, theatricality, even if it means verging on the outrageous. I wanted to bring out the low register, the power that emanates from the transcription of certain pieces, pieces that are beautiful rather than pretty, that move deeply or are spectacular, that don’t leave anyone indifferent.”
Luzzati’s mentors include harpsichordist Kenneth Weiss and harpists Isabelle Moretti, Germaine Lorenzini, and Mara Galassi. For more information, visit Luzzati’s website.
